An attorney representing the family of a 28-year-old man fatally shot by a police task force in Duarte last week demanded more information Friday and accused the four involved officers of gunning down the man in cold blood without justification.

Jose Hurtado, at podium center, father of Matthew Hurtado, 28, speaks at a press conference in front of the Pasadena Police Department October 13, 2017. Matthew Hurtado was shot and killed by four police officers at a park in Duarte, Calif. the afternoon of October 6. (Photo by Leo Jarzomb, SGV Tribune/ SCNG)

Family of Matthew Hurtado, 28, hold photos during a press conference in front of the Pasadena Police Department October 13, 2017. Hurtado was shot and killed by four police officers at a park in Duarte, Calif. the afternoon of October 6. (Photo by Leo Jarzomb, SGV Tribune/ SCNG)

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Family of Matthew Hurtado, 28, hold photos during a press conference in front of the Pasadena Police Department October 13, 2017. Hurtado was shot and killed by four police officers at a park in Duarte, Calif. the afternoon of October 6. (Photo by Leo Jarzomb, SGV Tribune/ SCNG)

Matthew Hurtado, 28, right, is pictured in an undated family photo with his mother Lillian Bennett and son Matthew, 8. Matthew Hurtado, 28, was shot and killed by four police officers at a park in Duarte, Calif. the afternoon of October 6. (Courtesy family photo)

Lillian Bennett, mother of Matthew Hurtado, 28, speaks at a press conference in front of the Pasadena Police Department October 13, 2017. Matthew Hurtado was shot and killed by four police officers at a park in Duarte, Calif. the afternoon of October 6. (Photo by Leo Jarzomb, SGV Tribune/ SCNG)

Family of Matthew Hurtado, 28, hold photos during a press conference in front of the Pasadena Police Department October 13, 2017. Hurtado was shot and killed by four police officers at a park in Duarte, Calif. the afternoon of October 6. (Photo by Leo Jarzomb, SGV Tribune/ SCNG)

Attorney for the family of Matthew Hurtado, 28, Humberto Guizar speaks at a press conference in front of the Pasadena Police Department October 13, 2017. Hurtado was shot and killed by four police officers at a park in Duarte, Calif. the afternoon of October 6. (Photo by Leo Jarzomb, SGV Tribune/ SCNG)

Attorney Humberto Guizar, who is representing Hurtado’s family, said Hurtado did nothing wrong and did not threaten police in any way. He said he plans to file a federal civil rights case on behalf of the family.

“Matthew was there with a friend, stopped at the park, eating ice cream, enjoying this nice, wonderful California weather, when police officers approached from all angles,” Guizar said. “One of the cars crashed into his car and the other (officers) got out. Before he could do anything, before he could get out of the car, they opened fire on him — four different police officers.

“It was a cowardly way to kill somebody. They didn’t even give him a chance.”

But Lt. Joe Mendoza of the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau, the agency spearheading the investigation, said Hurtado repeatedly rammed at least one of the officer’s cars with his vehicle before they opened fire.

“When the officers did approach and make contact with him, he repeatedly rammed into one of the officers’s car,” Mendoza said. The Toyota Camry Hurtado was driving struck an undercover officer’s car several times as it lunged “back and forth, forward into the curb, back into the officer’s car.”

It was then that four officers opened fire, Mendoza said. Hurtado was taken to a hospital, where he soon died.

A 36-year-old woman who had been in the car with Hurtado suffered an injury not considered to be life-threatening. She was treated and released from the hospital the day of the shooting, Mendoza said.

The bullet-riddled car Hurtado had been in appeared to have been pinned in the parking lot by undercover law enforcement vehicles. One of the undercover vehicles had struck the rear of Hurtado’s car, and its airbag had deployed.

The task force was comprised of officers from the Pasadena and Glendale police departments, as well as California Department of Corrections parole agents and U.S. Marshals officials. Two Pasadena officers, one Glendale officer and one CDCR agent fired their weapons during the shooting. No officers were hurt during the incident, sheriff’s officials said.

Mendoza said investigators found a handgun during a search of Hurtado’s Camry. Detectives were awaiting the results of ballistics tests to determined whether the recovered gun was the same one used in the Oct. 6 shooting, in which a 19-year-old man and a 16-year-old girl were wounded.

It was not clear Friday whether the gun was loaded when found.

Guizar said Hurtado was not responsible for the shooting in Pasadena the previous night.

“He was wanted for being in violation of the conditions of his parole. It was a death sentence that was given to him. He was entitled to a jury trial,” Guizar said. “He was executed, and then they make up this story about him being a suspect. That’s all a bunch of hyperbole. Where’s the evidence on that?”

The Montebello-based attorney added: “Are we going through that in our society now? If somebody’s a suspect, shoot them dead and bring them dead or alive?”

Hurtado is survived by his parents, Jose Hurtado and Lillian Bennet, sisters Melissa Hurtado and Yasenia Bennett, and 8-year-old son Matthew Hurtado.

“Matthew was a kind-hearted, well-loved person by all,” his father said. “There are no words to express the terrible loss that our family is going through, and will have to endure for years to come.”

“We are here to hold (the police) accountable for their actions. They took it upon themselves to become judge, jury and executioner,” the father said.

“Little Matthew is fatherless now because of the unprofessionalness of the Pasadena police and the other police officers involved,” according to Jose Hurtado. “I know in my heart if Matthew was given a chance, it could have ended differently.”

Melissa Hurtado said she lives out of state and had been looking forward to seeing her brother.

“I thought I was going to come home to see him, not to bury him,” she said through tears. “I love him so much.”

“He was the best person I’ve ever known,” she said. “All he ever wanted to do was make people laugh and make people smile, give hugs that hurt because they’re too tight because he never wanted to let go. And now I have to let go of him. It’s the hardest thing.”

According to Los Angeles County Superior Court records, Hurtado has a lengthy and violent criminal history.

He was convicted of battery causing great bodily injury, as well as assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury in 2015, records show. He was convicted of carjacking and robbery in 2013 and battery in 2012. Past convictions also include one for domestic violence in 2011.

Brian Day has covered crime and breaking news for the Southern California News Group since 2007. He’s a graduate of California State University, Fullerton and Cerritos College in Norwalk. He loves dogs and has a pet German shepherd, which in turn, has a pet cat. Brian is a local news junkie, a licensed drone pilot and a part-time science geek with an unfortunate predilection for puns.

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